At The Ferns?we celebrate good attendance and punctuality. After all they are important life skills and we should always remember that it is after all the responsibility of the parent to ensure that their child is in school and working!We have a display board in the hall celebrating good attendanceWe have a termly reward for 100% Attendance.

We also recognise the need to tackle any issues surrounding attendance and punctuality and for the last few years we have been very successful. We have regular attendance panels and a proactive Early Intervention?Officer

Absence and lateness

In the event of absence or lateness parents?should?contact the office?on the first day of absence on 01204 333019. Children are expected to be in school at 8:45am. If they arrive later than 9.05am they will be marked late. Children arriving late should enter through the main office entrance?and provide a reason to the member of staff on duty as to why they are late. Please see our?attendance policy.

If we do not hear from you

A text will be sent on the first day of absence if parents have not informed the school of their child?s absence.If for any reason an absence is not explained a telephone call will be made home on the day of absence
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Authorised and Unauthorised absences

The school will not authorise any form of absence for children who have an absence level of below 90% unless in exceptional circumstance or where a child has been ill for a period of time.
Occasional absences should only be take in unavoidable circumstances and at the head's discretion. Events that could take place at weekends or holidays such as visits to theme parks, museums etc will not be authorised unless in exceptional circumstances. A form must be completed.
Where common patterns occur or attendance is poor the Early Intervention?officer will intervene at the request of the school and an attendance panel convened. No satisfactory improvement could result in a fixed penalty fine.

Punctuality

Lateness is recorded in a book at reception
Doctor's appointments etc are recorded as authorised late using a different symbol.
Where there is concern a letter will be sent.
Where there is no significant improvement the parents/carers will be invited into school to discuss the situation and meet at an attendance panel.
Late collection after school is also recorded. Where this is a recurring issue and children are picked up late persistently parents will eventually be charged for childcare costs.

Attendance Intervention Process

Attendance Monitoring
The academy monitors all children whose attendance falls below 90%.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?IDaily Absence Phone Calls
The academy ring the parents/carers of each child with unexplained absence that day.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? IHome Visit
You may recieve a home visit from the Early Intervention Team.
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Concern letters
When a child's attendance is low and contact with home is infrequent, the school
send home a letter to the child's parents/carers voicing concerns. School explain
the need for home/school communication, ask if there are any difficulties effecting
regular attendance and ask to see an improvment to their child's attendance.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?IMeeting in school
If there is no improvement in attendance or punctuality then parents/carers will
recieve a letter home asking them to attend an Attendance Panel Meeting.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? IPoor Attendance Due to Illness
If your child is absent from school on an adhoc basis i.e. Regular Mondays
and Tuesdays off, every Friday off etc and school is being informed that their
child is ill, school can request that their child have a medical. Any future illness
the school will request a doctors note of attendance at the surgery. School does
not have to authorise any absences due to illness.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? IFixed Penalty Notice
If your child has a continous absence of 15 sessions during a term you will be
informed by letter that if this continues and your child has a further 5 sessions
during the term you will receive a fixed penatly notice of ?60 from the local authority.
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